My Cabbages!
by b1uski3sxox
Summary: At the center of all the hustle and bustle of Ba Sing Se, the Cabbage Man gets wind of everything! What happens when he finds out Zuko and Iroh are Fire Nation, and the Dai Li's plot to expel Aang and his friends from the city? You'll just have to read!
1. Prologue

Three letters.

L-O-L. I saw that The Cabbage Merchant (AKA Cabbage Man) had been added to the list of characters... it was too easy. *shrugs*

**Chapter 1**

*Cabbage Man's POV*

Ah, another wonderful day in Ba Sing Se. I got moved here after that horrible incident in Omashu (darn Avatar and his meddling friends), and I must say, it's much more peaceful-

*WHOOSH*

What was that?

I looked down at my cabbage cart to see it tipped over, cabbages strewn everywhere. I turned to see the culprit...

Oh no.

"Sorry!" Aang shouted. Ohh!

"MY CABB-"

"MOOOOO."

I spun around to see the biggest Lioncow I'd ever seen in my entire life run over my cabbage cart again and run after the Avatar. Of course.

Why do I even bother?

-end of chapter 1-

(LOL, sorry, but for some reason, just putting dashes to separate the chapter and my author's note never works...)

Yeah, short, lame chapter. It'll get better, I promise. Maybe. Eeeh, you'll just have to wait and see.


	2. Looking Up

Okay, hopefully this chapter will be longer... *crosses fingers*

**Chapter 2**

All right, everything's nice and fixed now... however, I didn't sell a single cabbage today because of all that ruckus. Geez.

"Ah, mister..." I saw a tall, formal-looking man walk up to me.

"Just call me The Cabbage Merchant. Looks like I'm the only one in this city, anyways." I replied.

"Mister Cabbage Merchant. You've had so much trouble here, haven't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you have yet to sell more than ten cabbages."

"... yes, sir." I admitted, quite ashamed of myself.

"Why don't you move your cart?"

"I can do that?"

"Yes, of course you can; with my permission. And I'm giving you permission, right now. I would advise that you move your cart three blocks down and see how that works out for you."

"Oh, thank you!" I bowed. Finally! Perhaps I'll get that kid out of my hair now.

_-do de do-_

_The next day..._

This is already working out SO much better! I've almost run out of cabbages now! Apparently, three blocks down is where all the restaurants are... and restaurants seem to be awfully fond of cabbage! Yay!

Most of the restaurants are your typical, sit-down-and-eat type restaurant, but there's one tea shop... how strange, a tea shop among all these hearty restaurants. But apparently it works; I see more people go in there than all of the other restaurants combined!

Perhaps I should check it out after I finish up work today...

-end of chapter 2-

Well, I think that was longer... maybe? *shrugs* These chapters are just going to continue to get longer and longer... by chapter 10 (wait, is this story going to even have that many chapters?), the chapters will probably be novel-sized...


	3. The Tea Shop

Going to try to make this one EVEN LONGER! (which means... I bet it'll be like 500 words. XD, I'm going to work my way up...)

**Chapter 3**

The day flew by so fast! I almost completely ran out of cabbage! I LOVE this new location!

... I was going to do something. Something important... ah, right, the tea shop!

The tea shop was literally five seconds away from my cabbage cart. I waited until later in the night, when it was calmed down a little and the line was shorter.

I walked into the small, dingy building and was instantly hit by the aromas of dozens of different teas. Such a fancy smell for a place in the lower ring...

There were about ten other people there at the moment. I surveyed the place; it looked like easily 20 people could fit into the small space...

"May I help you?" I heard a monotone voice and turned to see a boy, probably only just a teen, with shaggy black hair and a large, red burn scar on his left eye. I'd never seen anything like that scar... did he get it in a fight with a firebender? And how? Why was he here, anyways?

The boy seemed to take notice in my looking at his scar and became increasingly annoyed.

"May I help you?" He asked, much more sternly this time.

"Oh! Um..." How am I supposed to order, exactly?

"Lee, why don't you take a break?" An old, pudgy man walked over. The boy did not seem to respond.

"Lee." The man said again, and the boy seemed to only just realize that he was talking to him.

"Whatever." The boy- whose name was apparently Lee- walked off towards the kitchen.

"Welcome to my tea shop! How may I help you?" The man asked. He seemed quite joyful and had an air of wisdom to him.

"Uh, yes! I'd like to order..." I blinked. What kinds DID they serve here, anyways?

The man, seeming to pick up on my thoughts, replied just as joyfully as when I first saw him. "We have all kinds of tea here! Jasmine, white jade, chamomile, green..."

White jade tea sounds good! "White jade", I replied.

"Ah, yes. My personal favorite. I will be right back. Please, take a seat." The old man replied, gesturing to the several empty seats.

I obeyed, and sat down next to the window. Ah, the stars were out. More than I'd ever seen, too... the moon did not seem to be out yet, though...

I heard footsteps coming over to my table.

"Your tea is ready." That emo kid replied, setting the cup down on the table.

"... sir." He added with a fake service smile before trudging off.

I lifted the cup up to my lips. Seriously, some people...

Hey, this is good!

Perhaps the best tea I've had in a long time! Why are these people in such a dirty part of town?

I stayed there until they closed, then headed back to my apartment.

Today was a good day. Tomorrow will probably be even better!

-end of chapter 3-

Didn't know how to end it. XD Yeeeeah, I'm having a bit of a writer's block. Heh heh. But hey, I think I managed to squeeze out more words this time! That's good... right?


	4. The Second Visit

For some reason, I think Cabbage Man needs a proper name... to a baby name site, awaaay!

**Chapter 4**

*the next day*

Still a great day! This little spot of town is my new favorite! So many different people... all of them seem to love cabbage, too!

The sun's starting to set. Ooh, about time to close up and go to that tea place!

"Look out!" I hear from behind me. I spin around to see...

Oh no.

The Avatar again. And he's heading for my cabbage cart at full speed, another creature chasing him around again. I duck just in time- the two of them jump over my cart.

... no harm was done? Really?

I _love_ this place! I can make it to the end of the day without my cabbage cart being destroyed!

I start to see the other merchants packing up. Yes! Time to leave for the day! Not that I don't actually enjoy selling cabbages now, but I've been looking forward to going back to the wonderful tea shop all day!

I actually didn't have much to clean up; I sold all but three of my cabbages! I think that's a new record for myself!

I head over to the tea shop. Despite it being fairly late in the evening- most people should be heading home now- there was still a semi-long line.

After a few minutes of waiting, I managed to get in and was warmly greeted by the old man.

"Ah, welcome back!" He said. "I see you enjoyed your tea last night?"

"Yes, I did!" I nodded.

"And what would you like tonight?"

"Um, jasmine, please."

"Coming right up! Please sit down wherever you want."

There were a surprisingly large number of empty seats. I sat down at the same booth I sat at yesterday.

"Here's your tea." I looked up to see the kid with the scar. "... you're here again?"

I shrugged. "The tea is good!"

"You bet it is!" I heard the old man shout from the kitchen. The teen seemed mortified.

"Uncle," he snapped back. There was a long pause. I was literally on the edge of my seat, wondering what this kid would say. He ended up heaving a heavy sigh and walking away with a flat "enjoy your tea".

How I love the young ones.

I took a sip of my tea. It was even better than yesterday! Of course, I ordered a different flavor this time, didn't I? I wonder what the other flavors taste like... there must be at least a dozen different kinds. I don't know how I'll be able to try them all! A cabbage merchant only gets paid so much, you know.

But, for right now, this tea is my favorite. I sat and drank it by the window.

I was right; today was an even better day!

-**end of chapter 4**-

Yaay! I hope that was a little longer than the last chapter... I told you, I'm slooowwwllyyy working my way up. XD

Hee, I'm liking the Cabbage Man more and more as I write about him. And I'm having more and more fun making Zuko all emo-ish. I dunno, it's just fun.


	5. Guess Who?

New chapter! XD, the last one was shorter than I thought it was.

Donnacrunch- I'd put him at 30-something... all that stress made his hair go gray early, of course. XD

Anywho, sorry if this chapter stinks, because I've been sick (no, not with Bieber Fever... NEVERRRR), but I'm getting better. Right now I'm just stuffed up, so it might affect my creativity... I dunno. Just, if this chapter stinks, then please, blame it on the sickness. :D

**Chapter 5**

I went to the tea shop the next day. And the next day. And the next day. All the days seemed to go by so fast... I can't even remember what day it is today. Thursday? ... Friday? Or is it Monday?

Oh, well.

I had just gotten back to my apartment after another day of selling cabbages and drinking tea. I laid* down in my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

... not tired! Time to go for a walk.

I got on my jacket- the temperature had dropped considerably- and headed outside for some fresh air and exercise. I wonder if the tea shop is still open?

I walked throughout the maze-like streets. Surprisingly, a good amount of businesses still had their lights on. Perhaps it wasn't as late as I thought it was?

Okay, I've had enough now. I think I'm starting to get lost... I've been here all my life, and I still don't have the streets memorized.

I forgot which way I came, so I decided to head down an alley. Two familiar businesses were on either side, so I felt fairly safe.

_Felt_ being the key word.

I saw a figure standing at the end of the alley. I automatically turned around. There are other ways home...

"Hey," I heard the figure step closer to me. Oh crap, a mugger!

I started sprinting, as any normal citizen would. But I was never good at running, and the mugger caught up with me and grabbed me from behind.

He spun me around, and it was...

A teen? I think? I don't know; he was a heck of a lot taller than I was. And probably stronger. I kept commanding myself, "run! Run! Run, for Pete's sake!". But I was frozen in place. Dang, why do I always do that?

"You hang out at that tea place, right?" The mugger asked. What?

I nodded.

Maybe he wasn't a mugger. Perhaps he was just your average delinquent.

He smirked. "You do know those guys are Fire Nation, right?"

I blinked. Mushi and Lee? Pssh, no way.

"Listen, I think you've got the wrong tea shop." I suddenly felt like standing up for them. Yeah! "Mushi and Lee are very nice people."

"Really? How about that one week, when there was a shortage of spark rocks in the lower ring? They still lit fires somehow. And Lee. Do you think he got that scar of his from a waterbender? And their eyes. Have you noticed that they're gold?"

... all very good points. But still! "I refuse to believe anything you are saying!" My urge to stand up was fading pretty quickly. This guy could beat me up in two seconds with his hands tied behind his back!

"Fine then. It's your funeral. I'm just trying to keep fellow Earth Kingdom citizens safe."

And then he walked off.

... strange. Very strange. Yet... true?

HA. Oh wait! I'm dreaming! Haaa. Good one, me! You can wake up now.

...

...

I even pinched myself. Okay, not dreaming. ... but I probably should be right now. It's getting late. Time to head home. I'll figure this all out in the morning.

... maybe.

-**end of chapter 5**-

Wowwww! Five chapters! *is proud of self* :D

Still haven't gotten a name for mister Cabbage Merchant yet. ... well, I do, but I just haven't used it yet. I'll probably have a chance to use it in the next chapter.

P.S. the mugger/delinquent was Jet, for those of you who didn't figure it out. (LOL, sorry, I'll be writing about someone and totally know who they are, and then realize that, just from reading it, I'm the only one who understands who it is XD)

Anywho. ... dunno what else to say.

*is this proper grammar? I always get confused with lay, lays, laid, etc. :D


	6. Closed and The Library

Hello! Sorry if this is a short chapter with many errors in it; I typed this while hurrying to get ready for karate class. XD

**Chapter 6**

**(is this chapter 6? I think it is...)**

I woke up the next day. Perhaps last night was just a dream. Yeah, I'm going to stick with that. But still...

Ohh, I have a headache. Didn't sleep much last night... so many questions going through my head. It would make so much sense if Lee and Mushi were FIre Nation, but they've treated me so nicely... they couldn't be.

But still, another working day. Gotta sell those cabbages!

... wait, it's Sunday.

Back to bed then.

**...THE NEXT DAY...**

I woke up, once again. I slept through Sunday? Wow. New personal record, yay!

The sun's just rising; better set up that cabbage cart!

I made my way out of the house and down to... could I call it a place of work? I mean, a portable cart isn't really a place...

Either way, I set up and started the day. I noticed there weren't many people going into the tea shop... in fact, none at all. The lights weren't even on. How strange...

When night came, I got even more worried. First, I hadn't sold as many cabbages today! Second, no one had gone into the tea shop...

At the time I normally was supposed to be sitting by the window, drinking tea, I walked over and saw the sign on the door...

**CLOSED FOREVER**

WHAT?

This can't be! Why'd they close?

I saw people staring at me. Did I just say all that out loud? Oops.

"Sanjiro, what's wrong?" I turned around to see... Mushi! Oh, I could practically hug him! But enough people were staring at me already, so I managed to hold myself back.

"Y-you closed!" I stammered. "W-w-what the heck?"

"Hah, we're not closing. Just moving. I got an offer to start my own tea shop in the upper ring." Mushi replied. "Lee and I will be moving there. But we'll be sure to visit you plenty, don't worry!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. So they didn't close after all.

Lee walked up behind Mushi, holding what appeared to be a bouquet of somewhat dead flowers. Maybe he killed them.

"Uncle, I thought we were supposed to be packing up." He said through gritted teeth. Then he seemed to actually notice me, but, as usual, didn't say anything.

"It's going to be fun working in the upper ring, isn't it, Lee?" I tried my best to sound enthusiastic. "Maybe the king will visit you!"

Lee just rolled his eyes and walked off. Seriously, what is wrong with that kid?

"Well, I'd best be going... Lee will just throw a fit if things don't go according to schedule." Mushi laughed. "See you around!"

"See ya." I waved as Mushi walked off.

Well, now that the tea shop's closed... what should I do?

I know! This new library just opened not too far from here! I bet I could go there!

I headed off, walking at a slightly brisker pace than usual. I'm super bored, and seriously need something to do!

I walked into the library. The entire place smelled like books. (yes, books have a smell, and yes, I know libraries should smell like books, but just... oh, I don't know)

It wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but still looked like a decent place. They had comfy looking chairs scattered around next to the shelves...

I literally just picked a random book and sat down to read it. It was titled, _The History of the Fire Nation._

Ooh.

I skimmed through it. But one part caught my eye.

_The current Fire Lord is Fire Lord Ozai, son of Fire Lord Azulon. He married Ursa, and they have two children; Zuko and Azula. Zuko was banished for speaking up in a war meeting and his left eye was burned by his father. He was sent to capture the Avatar, and has failed so far._

Left eye? Burned?

Oh sh...

-**end of chapter 6**-

LOL, I almost made him swear. :D And he has a NAME now! Yay!

Anywho, gotta get running, get my karate outfit on... hi-ya! I mean, bye-ya! (bad pun. XD)


	7. Trust, kinda?

New chapter! Yay! *clap clap*

Donnacrunch: LOL, I literally went to a baby name website, looked under "Japanese boy names", and just found one that sounded kinda Earth-Kingdom-ish-y. :D

**Chapter 7**

Back at my apartment... well, I didn't know what to do.

Do I report them to the police? No, I couldn't do that. They're my friends! But still... ohh, the banished son of the Fire Lord is in our city; this could end badly...

Do I just move on with life? I can't do that! Knowing that they're who they are... plus, they're going to be moving to the upper ring; they're going to be closer to the Earth King! They could possibly assassinate him!

Ohhh. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

I know. I'll take a walk. Yeah. Walks help. Sometimes.

I got on my jacket and headed out of my apartment. Just going to walk. Walk and think. Get some fresh air.

Maybe I could visit the old tea shop again... yeah, that's a good idea. No one will be there, anyways... I bet Lee and Mushi have already moved to the upper ring. There's not much in that little shop...

I walked past the shop and peered in the window. Yep, just as I thought; empty. No lights. The tables and chairs connected to the floor were still there. Kind of creepy, actually... I mean, I was just here on Monday, and now it's like the place never existed in the first place...

"Sanjiro?" I heard from behind me. I turned around to see...

OHMYGOD! Zuko!

I literally screamed.

"Sanjiro, it's just me." He said, slightly alarmed himself. "I thought you would've recognized me..."

"N-no, I recognize you j-just fine, Z- Lee." I said. "You just startled me, that's all..."

_Please don't kill me._

Zuko sighed and walked up next to me, also looking in the shop. Was I starting to sweat?

"It's weird. I was just working in there yesterday." He mumbled.

"Mm." I nodded.

Then, he turned to me. "So, what are you doing walking around so late at night?"

I blinked. "Um. ... what are YOU doing walking around so late at night? I-I mean, I'm older than you are, a-and you need more sleep, sooo..."

"I needed some fresh air. Needed to think." He kinda spaced out at the end of his sentence.

"Heh, same here..." I mumbled. Oh, no, I'm not sweating, I'm trembling. "Well, I'd better be going..." _Must escape._

"Sanjiro, what's wrong?" Zuko asked, his voice as flat as usual. "You're all jumpy."

"N-no, it's just the cold." I said.

"You have a jacket on."

"... well, yeah, but... it's still cold out..."

There was a very long and awkward pause.

"Here." Zuko pulled a key out of his pocket and inserted it into the door.

"What are you-" I started, but before I could say anything, Zuko had grabbed a couple of spark rocks and used them to light up a lantern. I wonder how frustrating it must be for him to have to use spark rocks instead of firebending.

"Get in here." He said. I simply nodded and did what he told me to. I don't want to be cabbage merchant toast. I really don't.

-**end of chapter 7**-

YAAAY. I'm happy for some reason. XD FINALLY, SOMETHING happens! *clap clap*

Also, I NEED CRITICISM! Preferably of the constructive kind. :D Something about this story just doesn't seem completely right to me, and I'm not entirely sure what it is... maybe you guys could tell me? :)


	8. Friendship

Background? Good idea! I'll try putting that in there... but not a love interest, because then I'd have to introduce a NEW character for him to fall in love with, and I'm already kinda going OC on his personality, and I never really liked OCs, soo... :D

I will have him do some sort of manly bonding with Zuko, though. Does that count? XD

**Chapter 8**

I sat there in the dimly lit tea shop, at the booth I usually sat at, right by the window, sipping tea.

I should be completely calm. But I'm not. Because the ex-Fire Prince is sitting directly across from me and could burn me to a crisp at the drop of a hat.

*thump*

I screamed and looked over at the source of the sound. A hat had literally fallen from the coat rack. Oh, I think I'm going to faint.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" Zuko asked.

"I-I... nothing. N-nothing at all." I shook my head frantically.

"Please tell me what's wrong with you. Just yesterday you seemed fine." He actually looked... worried? Wow, first sign of an expression other than pain that I've seen on his face.

There was a very long silence in which Zuko just stared at me.

Finally, after what seemed like... oh, about five minutes or so, I broke.

"Okay, fine, I was at this library- you know the one across the street, that just opened? I was there because you guys were closed and I needed something to do, so I went there and I kind of read this book about the Fire Nation royal family's history-"

His eyes widened.

"And I... kinda... read it..." I didn't know what else to say. I was literally shaking now.

"How much do you know?" He asked.

"A-a lot..."

"Y-you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No, of course not."

"... why not?"

That was an interesting question. Why wasn't I going to report them to the police? I mean, sure, they're my friends, but they're fugitives. They're wanted. They're dangerous. They're Fire Nation.

"I-I..." I shook my head, not really knowing what to say. I don't think this kid quite grasped the concept of friendship, so I wasn't going to go off about that to him.

There was another fairly awkward pause. Finally, Zuko sighed. "It's so dark in here."

With one flick of his wrist, all the lanterns in the shop lit up. I started to feel dizzy. I've never actually seen firebending in action... kind of scary. I wonder how long he had been wanting to do that?

"You okay?"

"Fine." I replied.

"You should report us to the police." Zuko mumbled into his tea cup. "We're fugitives. Fire Nation fugitives. We're basically everything this city doesn't want in it. ... so why don't you report us to the police?"

Perhaps I _should_ give him the friendship lecture.

"Well, y-you guys are my friends."

Just as I thought; he seemed confused.

"Friends don't report friends to the police." I said as plainly as I could when you've just seen your country's enemy demonstrate their power- even on such a small scale- in front of you.

Zuko did something I'd never seen him do before. He _smiled._

_SMILED!_

I could've laughed, but I think that may have triggered an angry response from him and then I'd be a small pile of ashes on the booth.

He seemed to register that he'd smiled, though, and his expression quickly turned to stone again.

"Thanks." He said matter-of-factly.

"You're welcome." I couldn't help it. I grinned. I probably looked insanely stupid.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." I somehow managed to keep as straight of a face as he was keeping.

"Y-you don't need to be... scared. I don't, like, hurt people for fun or anything."

Phew.

"Listen, it's getting late." He suddenly stood up and extinguished the lanterns. He was probably right; how long had I been here, again?

I got up and grabbed my jacket off of the coat hanger, making a fairly hasty retreat from the restaurant, Zuko in front of me. Hey, I trust him, but not enough to walk behind me. I need to keep my eye on him.

When I arrived back at my apartment that night, I felt pretty darn proud of myself, if I may say so.

-**end of chapter 8**-

Wowww! 8 chapters. This is getting longer than I thought it would be, LOL.

Click ze little button down there, please! I still need criticism! You have my permission to be as flamey as you want. XD


	9. Delicious Water Tribe Cabbage Soup

Heh heh, sorry this is kind of long overdue... I'm not dead, I'm just lazy and have writer's block, I think.

**Chapter 9**

I woke up the next morning and headed down to my special little spot where I sold cabbages. Though I should probably stop calling it "my special little spot", because it's not all that special anymore without the tea shop there...

I sound whiny, I know. But really... I miss them. Who cares if they're Fire Nation?

However, I didn't expect to see the entire fire station there, putting out a fire at the library.

I immediately rushed up. "What happened?", I asked.

"Small fire broke out. Not too bad, though; only a couple books were burned. We think it might have been a freak lightning strike during that rainstorm last night."

Only a couple books?

... dang it, Zuko...

"No one was hurt though, thankfully." The firefighter tried to reassure me. "However, the entire block could have been engulfed if we didn't get here when we did."

I sighed. The library's safe- for the most part. The block's safe. My cabbage cart is safe. Everything is oookay.

I repeated that to myself throughout the day. Everything is okay.

Everything is okay.

Everything is okay.

But for some reason, I felt even more paranoid than usual. Zuko could have burned the whole block down! Or maybe it wasn't Zuko who did it...? Maybe it was Mu- Iroh? Perhaps he did it to protect Zuko?

... no, it was definitely Zuko. Iroh wouldn't do something like that.

Getting back to my day. I didn't see either of them. People passed by the tea shop as if it wasn't even there. Which, technically, it wasn't.

But, just near the end of the day, I saw a familiar face come walking down the market's road.

"Hey! Um... the guy with the cabbages." It was one of the Avatar's friends. That one Water Tribe guy. What was his name again? I've heard it mentioned a couple of times... Sock? Soaka? Oh, I know that I know his name...

"Hey, cabbage guy?" Did I seriously space off again?

"Oh, sorry." I replied. "Just saw... a... bird."

He spun around? "Where?"

"Ummm, it flew off."

"Good. I've been attacked by three birds this week. Darn things are out to get me..."

... what do I say? The guy's a bird magnet? ... ha. Chick magnet, maybe?

Not punny, I know.

"So, um. I hear that Aang's kind of destroyed your cabbage cart a few times over?"

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REPLY TO THAT? "Yeah, that darn Avatar!"? "No, it's fine!"?

So I stayed silent and simply nodded nonchalantly.

"That's Aang for you. The other day, he-"

"Hey, Sokka!" I looked off into the distance to see... guess who? That's right! Aang.

He ran up to Sokka and then seemed to notice me. "Oh. Heh... hi there, mister cabbage merchant, sir... listen... I'm really sorry about... kinda... causing trouble and... stuff like that..."

I was about to try to make up some intelligent answer, but before I could do that, Sokka opened his mouth again.

"Hey, didn't there used to be a tea shop right around there?"

"Yeah, there was... darn, it closed already? I was looking forward to going there!" Aang half-whined.

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. If he'd seen Zuko and Iroh...

"So, Sokka, what are you doing here?"

Sokka clapped his hands like a little schoolgirl. "Shopping! I already bought a pie, and some cookies, and some moon peaches! Now I just needed to get some cabbage for this great soup."

"What kind of soup?"

"This delicious Water Tribe-"

"No, thanks."

"Aw, why not?"

"The sea prunes you gave me kind of got me off of Water Tribe food for a while..."

"Come on, Aang. It's delicious! Pickled cabbage in a-"

"No, no no no no no."

"Well, you're no fun."

There was a very awkward silence.

"Sooo." I said, breaking the dead silence that had flooded the market.

"Oh yeah! Cabbage! I'll buy some." Sokka pulled a few copper pieces out of his pocket. "Here, how much will this buy?"

I scanned over the coins with my eyes. Let's see... if each head of cabbage is worth... and you add that up... multiply that by...

"Um, about four heads?"

"Sounds good to me!" Sokka handed over the coins and put four heads of cabbage in his bag.

"Sokka, you don't put the cabbages on top of the pie. They'll fall into the pie and you'll have berry-covered cabbage."

"That's essentially what the dish is." Sokka replied.

"Ew."

"Hey, Toph said she'd try it."

"She's blind, Sokka."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Yeah, Aang, what does it have to do with anything?" I felt someone on my shoulder.

I screamed again and spun around, ready to pummel whoever it was with the cabbage that I had left.

It was a small girl, barefoot, with clouded-over eyes. Probably Toph.

"Sheesh, calm down." She said. "Didn't expect you to have such a wimpy response."

"I AM NOT-"

"Toph, we're going to fix that cabbage soup I was talking about!" Sokka held up a head of cabbage, grinning like an idiot.

"Great." Toph made a stinky-face.

"Guys, what time is it?" Aang asked.

"Umm... about five o'clock?" I said.

"Oh, crud! I gotta get back to the house, or else we'll be having the soup at midnight!" Sokka rushed off.

"Fine by me..." Aang mumbled under his breath.

"Come on, twinkletoes. Let's make sure he doesn't get lost again." Now Toph walked off, leaving Aang standing awkwardly in front of the cart.

"Heh... I should... probably get going..."

Why do people keep asking questions that I have a hard time answering?

But, thankfully, before I could say anything, Toph came back, grabbed Aang by the forearm, and dragged him off.

Will I ever have a boring day?

-**end of chapter 9**-

YAAAY LONG CHAPTER! *claps* I'm excited to post this so I can see how many words are in it. If it's over 1000, then... umm... the next chapter will likely be shorter than 1000 words. If it's shorter than 1000 words, then the next chapter will likely be around the same amount of words! XD


	10. Promotion!

BLAAAAAAH! Writer's block! DX

Plus, I'm tired for no good reason right now. Maybe my coffee wore off, I dunno.

Either way...

Yeees, white jades are poisonous, but in one episode (where Iroh was in prison, I think), that one lady brought him, and I quote, "white jade tea". Go watch that episode or see the transcript or something. XD

(maybe she was trying to poison him, though...?)

Anywho. YAY TEN CHAPTERS! *claps* Neeeever thought this story would be this long. But, with the way it's going... three digits of chapters, maybe? XD, kidding. ... maybe. I dunno. I'm literally making all this up as I go.

**Chapter 10**

-**The next day...**-

The next day was fairly uneventful for me. I didn't see the Avatar or his group of possible delinquents. Maybe they got food poisoning from the soup?

The little market square seems so quiet without the tea shop... something was always going on over there. People poured in- hundreds of them, every day. Now, I'm lucky if I see fifty people in the market each day. They seem to pick up on my mood, too. I've seen a few go over to the tea shop and look in the windows, hoping that there might be someone in there...

I'm getting all sappy, sorry. I just miss them. Fire Nation or not, they were... nice. To everyone. Heck, if the Avatar and his friends would've gone in there... no, Zuko would've ripped his head off. But still...

As I said, nothing much happened that day. I sold most of my cabbages, as usual. I went home and went to sleep.

-**The next-next day...**-

I woke up to a knocking at my door.

I opened my eyes to see that... holy crud! It's bright outside already! How long did I sleep? I'm going to be late for wo-

It's Saturday. Oh, phew.

Oops, almost forgot about the guy at the door!

I rushed over and swung it open to see...

Mister... umm... uh... don't tell me I don't know his name? Um. The guy who's in charge of me.

"Ah, Sanjiro, good afternoon." He said. Afternoon? Darn it!

"G-good afternoon... sir. Um... why are you here?"

"You know your cabbage cart?"

"What happened to it?" I started to panic.

"Nothing, nothing." Phew. "I would like you to move it, though."

"Move it? Where?"

"The upper ring."

... seriously? Really? The upper ring? ME? And my cabbages? WHOO HOO!

"... sure." Thankfully, I managed to keep back my excitement. "But, why?"

"I think you'll get even better business up there."

All right, not going to complain with that!

There was a long silence.

"So, do you want to see where you'll be working? Familiarize yourself with your new surroundings?" The guy finally asked.

"Sure!"

"All right, I have a carriage waiting outside."

A carriage? AWESOME! I've never been in a carriage before!

I practically ran down the stairs and hopped into the ostrich-horse drawn carriage. We started to head down a road I'd never even seen before. The dull, dingy buildings of the lower ring slowly started to look cleaner, happier... more expensive...

The scenery changed, too. From dry and dusty to just beautiful. Bright green trees in every direction you looked. I could've sworn that I saw a mountain, too. A mountain? Here in Ba Sing Se? That's new.

When we finally came to a halt, everything looked... very pricey. I almost didn't want to get out of the carriage for fear of my clothes looking too plain.

But... I really wanted to get out.

So I did.

And... WOW.

I seemed to be in a pretty nice part of the upper ring, too. Even their common markets are fancy! I saw people selling fine jewelry and exotic foods... would my little cabbage cart fit in here?

"Do you want to see where you'll be living from now on?" The man asked me.

I'm getting a new apartment, too?

He led me over to a very upscale-looking apartment complex. With a pool and everything!

"You'll be staying here starting tonight. We'll bring your cabbage cart up here." The man handed me a key with my room number on it. ... they have keys here?

Before I could say anything, the man got back in the carriage and it took off.

I spent a few hours looking for my apartment. Gosh, how many rooms were there in this building, anyways?

When I finally found it, I put the key into the lock and opened the door.

WOW!

There was a huge- and I mean HUGE- bed. A dresser. And a rug. All in this spacious room. Even when it's almost completely empty, it feels so... fancy!

Naturally, the first thing I did was jump on the bed. However, that didn't really work out, since the beds here weren't so much springy as they were... soft. Poofy. Like floating on a cloud made of marshmallow fluff. Not the best for jumping, but I bet I'll sleep like I've never slept before!

I looked over at the windows. Covered up by shades, I could see little bits of the sunset peeking through. I bet I've got a great view, having a corner room in the building.

I pulled up the shade on the first window. For about the fifteenth time, _wow._ I have the single best view in the entire world! I can see all of Ba Sing Se from here! It's so pretty! I wonder if my other window has the same view.

I went over to the other window and pulled up the shade on that one, too. Instead of a view, I saw the apartment building next to mine. They also had their window open.

Huh. Guess these are my neighbors?

Just as I was about to go and get some dinner, I saw someone come into view.

"... Zuko?" I asked, but then realized he couldn't hear me because of the glass. I fumbled with the lock on the window- everything's locked here- and repeated myself, this time even more confused.

"_Zuko?_"

-**end of chapter 10**-

I wrote a lot, yay! *claps* I dunno. Not much happened in this chapter... but I mean... *shrugs* I don't really know. I didn't want Cabbage Man to be separated from Zuko, Iroh, and Aang + the gang.

Plus, I wanted him to have a soft, poofy, non-jumpable bed. XD

So yeah! I'm starting to get back into the "vibe" of this story, I think... maybe...


	11. Neighbors and That Could've Been Bad

SORRY. I didn't die, LOL. I literally wrote, like, half the chapter, and then just walked away from it... I saved it and everything, but I knew it was too short. So then I... well, I didn't forget about it. I basically thought about it every single day, but something kept me from finishing it... but then, tonight, while I was brushing my teeth, an idea hit me like a bird would hit a window; quickly and fairly painfully. :D

But I think I got everything sorted out (kind of), soooo.

SparkleKitty07; you made my day! *claps* LOL, though... umm... what's a beta? *filled to the brim with teenage ignorance*

XD, I'm trying to be more descriptive, I swear. You should see the first Avatar fanfiction I wrote. It was literally:

"So, where should we go?" Zuko said.

"I don't know." Sokka said.

"Maybe we could go to Omashu." Katara said.

"Look, a bird." Aang said.

"Look at that bird." Sokka said.

"That is a big bird." Zuko said.

"Yes, it is." Katara said.

It's painful to read nowadays. XD

OOOH AND GUYS!

I've got a bunch of little one-chapter ideas for fanfictions (I'd say oneshot, but aren't those usually romantic?) that will probably turn into hundred-chapter fanfictions... once I get them all sorted out (I'm good at sorting. I sort my shirts by color. Literally. :D), I might post some... *claps again*

ANYWHO! Chapter time before I keep typing and make you fall asleep!

**Chapter 11**

Zuko spun around. "... Sanjiro?"

Theeen he went back into his bad mood. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I- what are YOU doing here?" I retaliated with the same question.

"The tea shop got moved, so now we're living here."

"Ah." I nodded. Valid answer.

But Zuko just kept standing there... staring.

"And you?" He finally asked.

Oh, right! "Um. My cabbage cart got moved... sooo... now I'm your neighbor!" I put on the best grin I could.

"Don't use that word."

"Okay." I nodded.

There was a long and awkward silence in the air. Aw man, does this have to happen EVERY DAY?

"So." I said. "... does your uncle know that..."

"We're Fire Nation? Of course, you idiot."

"No, I-I meant, does he know that I know?"

"Oh." Is he blushing? I got the great Fire Prince to blush? All right! "Uh, no. Well, I mean, he's smart enough, so he probably does know that you know... but I haven't told him."

"Mm." I nodded again. Just as I was about to think "oh crud, another awkward silence", Mu- I mean, Iroh, walked into view.

He waved. "Ah, Sanjiro! Hello! Nice to see you!"

"Hi!" I waved back.

"Did you move in right next to us, or are you just visiting?"

"No, no, I moved in."

"How wonderful! We'll be neighbors! Isn't that exciting, junior?"

"Mm." Zuko nodded, still his melancholic self. Does he have any other emotions?

"How about you come over sometime, Sanjiro?" Iroh asked, and Zuko seemed to stiffen up. Not very polite, now is he?

"S...ure." I shrugged.

"All righty, then! It's getting late; how about you get to bed, junior?"

"Uncle." Zuko practically whined.

"Rest is good for you! You'll grow up big and strong, like me!"

"Maybe not strong, but definitely big..." Zuko mumbled under his breath as he stomped off. Now I think I see why he got banished.

"I suppose we'll see you soon, then!" Iroh said as he closed up the curtains.

I nodded to myself. "Mm."

I was just about to turn back to my room and think up some creative decorating schemes when I heard a strange, almost cat-like noise coming from my windowsill.

It was this weird, bat-like thing with huge ears. Wait... wasn't this one of the Avatar's animal sidekicks?

"Momo?" I heard from outside the window.

Oh boy.

I looked out the window to see... yep, the Avatar. Oh, thank goodness he hadn't appeared just five seconds earlier.

It was then that I heard the muffled speaking from inside Zuko and Iroh's apparently-not-very-soundproof apartment.

"What's that noise?"

"I don't know; perhaps a cat?"

"Ugh, don't tell me we live next to a crazy cat lady!"

"Just go and take a look. Now that I listen closer, it doesn't sound much like a cat... perhaps a bat?"

"Stop rhyming, uncle."

"Fine, then."

Shoot, shoot, shoot! I saw the curtains move. What do I do?

"Momo-"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed down at the young Avatar before quickly snatching the lemur and hiding it behind my back.

Just as Zuko opened the window.

"You're still here?" He asked.

I nodded again. "Mm." I kept one hand clamped over the creature's mouth. It didn't seem to like it that much, as it was digging whatever kind of claws it had into my back.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear... what?"

He simply glared at me, and slammed the window down with a large "FOOM!".

Just as he closed the curtains, I threw the creature out the window. It flew off- and right into the arms of the Avatar.

"Oh, there you are! Come on, let's go meet up with the others!"

"*chitter*"

All right, a little too much activity for me tonight...

I jumped into bed. Unfortunately, I'm still not very used to the idea of a non-springy bed, so I basically landed with a "poof" and sunk down about two feet into it.

I stared up at the ceiling. I didn't even notice how completely blank it was until now. Maybe I could paint it... yeah. But what of? Maybe a cute little cityscape, with trees and a sunset and some people...

The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to the bright morning sun shining through my window.

-**end of chapter 11**-

I don't like the ending... XP I'm bad at ending chapters. :D

Aaaand, on a side note, belt promotion is really soon! I'm going to be a yellow belt, whoo!

You: nobody cares!

I know, I know.

So. Hmm. Anywho... *shrugs* (I literally just shrugged, but you couldn't see me do it XD)

Hopefully the next chapter will be up more quickly! *crosses fingers but knows it's pretty much in vain because I'm either going to get a boatload of homework or just be too dang lazy to put up a new chapter within the next week or so*


	12. Knock, knock!

Yeep! Oh my gosh, guys, I love y'all! (yes, I said "ya'll" or "y'all" or however you spell it, and I shall never forgive myself for saying that XD)

I should videotape my reaction when I see that I've gotten a new review, LOL!

Anywho!

Sorry I haven't put up a new chapter! DX I've been sick since... Monday. But right now I'm just a little stuffy; not too bad, so I'm sitting here in my karate uniform, waiting until I have to leave.

Another chapter that I typed in two segments... :D One half yesterday, one half today, LOL. Just be glad that I didn't spread the halves out over three days!

... but wait... I don't think that makes sense in math terms. But you know what I mean! XD

Sorry if I seem dry and humorless. I "changed" myself on this other forum, and therefore I'm having a hard time... reconciling my humor? Reconciling? Is that the right word? GAH MY HUMORLESSNESS HAS MADE ME DUMBER TOO. DX

Anywho. On with the chapter!

**Chapter 12**

-THE NEXT DAY-

I awoke to a pounding at my door. At first, I just thought it was a remnant of my dream (I was in this great band and I played the drums, oh yeah!), but then I quickly realized that it was either:

1: the mailman

2: someone wanting to attack me

3: my neighbors

But me, being me, reacted as if it was number 2.

I jumped out of my bed with a scream and grabbed the nearest weapon-like thing (the curtain pole). I ran over to the door... then chickened out.

"W-who's there?" I whimpered.

"Open the door."

Oh phew, it was Zuko.

... did I just say "phew" because the banished Fire Prince was at my door, practically trying to break into my apartment?

Either way, I ended up opening the door.

He stared at the curtain pole for a few seconds. "Why do you have that?"

"Um. No reason." I threw it off to the side and it rolled over to one side of the room. Is this apartment on a slope?

"I've been knocking for the past five minutes. Thought you were dead." Zuko said matter-of-factly. "... not that I care or anything, but I don't want people to get suspicious."

"Gee, thanks." Gosh darn princes and their stupid selfishness...

Another awkward pause. Geez.

I finally decided that I should be the one to break the silence. "Soooo, why are you here, anyways?"

"Um." Zuko stammered. "Last night..."

Oh crap.

"I clearly remember hearing you yelling 'shut up' at someone... who was it?"

"Uuuuuhhhh... who do YOU think it was?" Yeah, good idea, Sanjiro! Make him guess, yeah!

He paused for a second. And then I could've sworn that I saw his eye twitch. "I don't know. That's why I was asking you-"

"BUT AHA! Perhaps you DO have an idea of who it was? The Avatar, perhaps? Here in Ba Sing Se, out for a walk with his wild and crazy lemur? You know it was him, but you simply don't want to mention it because that would make you seem like an evil person?"

...

"No..."

Oh, shoot.

"Well... good then. 'Cause it wasn't." I blinked.

-**end of chapter 12**-

TADAAAA. *shrugs* XD, I tried to make it kinda cliffhanger-ish... kinda... though I really had no idea of what I was going to do with this chapter. *shrugs again* so yeah. *blink blink*

P.S. oh, right. I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Perhaps I should have been saying that all along...? XD

P.P.S. reviews make me happy and all squealy like I get when I see Zuko and Katara in the same room together! So click that button! If you want to. I mean, you don't HAVE to... but it'd make me really happy if you would... *bats eyelashes* :D


	13. My door!

Hey guys... I know, I know I haven't written anything in over a week! My poor widdle nose has been having these random episodes where it'll start bleeding a little, so I've had to tend to that.

Typing this right now because I am B-O-R-E-D. And mom and sis are watching some Muppets movie, so I'll basically have nothing to do for a couple hours... *pouts* I wanna watch Benjamin Button! *throws tantrum*

Anywho. ... *blink blink*

Ooooh, dad just came up and said mom and sis wouldn't be long; sis just wanted to show mom this one segment of the movie... so I'd better get typing! *claps* wait, why am I typing when I could be clapping? ... wait, reverse that. :D

**Chapter 13**

Another awkward silence.

"Soooo." I said. "... y-you know I was just... joking, right?"

Zuko was still giving me the death glare. Five minutes now. He must be getting tired, I would think...

"Heh... you don't REALLY think that I would say something like that if I was SERIOUS, right? I just said it to see what your reaction was!"

Zuko opened his mouth. "I-"

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" I screamed. ... wow, that was kind of random. Don't know where that came from... instinct, I suppose?

Then, Zuko did something that was... I can't say it wasn't Zuko-like. It was Zuko-like. But I've never seen him do anything that was this Zuko-like.

He hit me over the head with the curtain pole and walked out, mumbling something about "idiots" and "gotta catch him".

Man, I'm stupid.

"*chitter*"

I turned around. Momo again. "You always arrive like five seconds after he's out of earshot, don't you?"

"*chitter*"

Stupid lemur, messing up my life...

I stood up- I'm on the floor?- and immediately regretted it. As soon as the room stopped spinning as much, I sat back down and looked back over at the window.

Still there.

"Don't you have something else to do?"

"*chitter*"

"Go back to the Avatar!" I shouted.

Nothing.

"I'm sure he misses you!"

Nothing.

"I don't have any food!"

He flew back outside quicker than I could blink.

Well, that was easy...

I think I'll take a nap.

I managed to make my way over to my squishy, floofy bed and relaxed...

"*knock knock*"

Sigh. Maybe if I just ignore it...

"*knock knock*"

Go away...

"*BANG!*"

I opened my eyes to see... oh, who was that girl? A friend of the Avatar's, I think I saw her one day...

"Are you the one who keeps stealing Momo?" She asked.

"What? HE FLIES IN MY WINDOW AND WILL NOT LEAVE! And what did you do to my door?"

"I don't care! All I care is that Momo keeps disappearing in the middle of the night, and a few more times during the day! And every time one of us goes looking for him, we find him in your apartment. Twinkletoes is already despondent enough about losing Appa. We can't have Momo running off and staying in some stinky cabbage merchant's room!"

"Speak for yourself. You're getting dirt on my floor every time you breathe." I mumbled. "Besides, what should I do about it?"

"CLOSE YOUR WINDOW."

And with that, she was gone.

... and my door's still on the floor. She's not going to fix it? How rude!

Oh well, I might as well make a run to the store and get some... whatever I need to fix it.

I propped the door back up as best as I could and started walking.

It took me an hour and a half to get out of the building. Hey, don't look at me like that! The complex is like a maze! All these twisting and turning hallways... half are dead ends, the other half divide off into different hallways, and half of THOSE go off into different hallways...

But I managed to get out. Eventually.

All right, NOW I'm on my way to the hardware store!

... wait, I need money.

... aww.

-**end of chapter 13**-

I didn't want this to be the end, but:

1: I think it's actually a good ending. *gasps*

2: ... that's about it. :D I wanted this chapter to be, like, waaaaay longer... but... when I actually want to end a chapter, I get this cruddy little thing, but when I want to make the chapter longer, I come up with the perfect ending that ONLY FITS RIGHT IN HERE. GAH.

But anywho. XD

Thank you all for your reviews! *claps* I'm totally taking every idea into consideration! Without you guys, this fanfiction would be cruddy, cruddy, cruddy! (yes, I used three "cruddy"s. THAT'S how cruddy it would be.)

Soooo... see you next time I decide to write a chapter! Might be tomorrow... might be next month. :D


	14. Zuko Scares Kittens

OHHHH MYYY GAWWWWSH.

*slapped for sounding too much like a teenage girl*

*wait, I am a teenage girl*

I. Am so freaking sorry. Lemme just crumple everything that's happened to me since... last year... up in one big paragraph here.

Mmmkay so it turns out I had mono and hay fever, so I'd get hay fever and then my body couldn't fight it off and it turned into various infections. That happened for several months. Pretty much until... January-ish. Of this year. 2011. Yeah. But then I got better! But then it turns out I have scoliosis, too, so I had to get a brace for that and had to travel every other day for about a month to go to a lady who helped me do exercises to help correct my spine. Aaaand then a bunch of boring stuff happened and then August rolled around and I started my FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL OHMYGOSH. So that's pretty awesome, doing well so far, making some friends, doing some algebras... aaand I haven't really written anything for quite a while since I've been doing HOMEWORK and listening to music and-

You: OMG. SHUT UP. YOU JUST WROTE AN ENTIRE FREAKING PARAGRAPH ABOUT STUFF NONE OF US CARE ABOUT. CONGRATULATIONS. NOW GET ON WITH THE FREAKING CHAPTER.

... well, sorry. ... now, where was I...?

**Chapter 14**

Well, I made it to the hardware store unscathed! That's a first! (previous excursions involved various *accidents* with boxes of nails, a stepladder, a koi pond... don't ask)

I was making my merry way back to my apartment with a shiny new door and some equally shiny hinges for it. Now, unsurprisingly, they don't have carts to simply push your new door around. So I was doing my best to slide it across the ground, which was making one side of it much less shiny, but oh well. I'll have to make that side face the interior of my apartment, I suppose. But what if it doesn't go on that way? Oh, I'll be the laughingstock of the entire apartment complex! All those rich people living in the upper ring will know I'm just a lowly cabbage merchant! Oh, the horror! What will I-

I was interrupted from my miserable thoughts when my door bumped into something. Well, someone. Who let out a shout that made a kitten in a nearby cage- I must've walked into an open-air pet store- tremble and hide in a corner.

The someone spun around.

It was Zuko.

"Oh, Zu- Lee! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"What are you doing with a _door?_" Zuko asked as the kitten continued to shiver. Would that be considered indirect animal abuse?

"Oh, you see, this-" I stopped myself. I couldn't let him know about that blind girl that runs around with the Avatar! "... clumsy me took a trip and broke my door."

"... you broke a door?"

"Yes. With my... face," I added, instantly regretting saying that. How do you break a door with your _face?_

The banished prince stared at me, clearly seeing through my ruse. "Your face."

"... yes."

"How do you break a door with your _face?_"

Totally called it.

"Heh, I don't know, really... but now I have a new door! Just taking it back to the ol' apartment. Getting one side of it dirty... I hope the other people don't notice..."

"Kind of hard not to notice a door caked in dirt," Zuko said matter-of-factly, kicking the dirt, which caused the kitten to let out a strained meow. Why was Zuko even here?

"I know that, Lee, _okay?_ But I can't really help it!"

Zuko let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes, causing the scar tissue on his left eye to wrinkle slightly. Ew. Scars are tough when you think about them, but actually seeing one up close is kinda gross. "You could always, I don't know, carry the door?"

Well, of course I can't do that. I'm not exactly the strongest person around... but I couldn't let Zuko know that! He might go "ooh, look, a little Earth Kingdom weakling", and then BOOM, I'm a bag of fire flakes. ... I always wondered what those were made of. ... perhaps I shouldn't think about it now.

"Well, yeah, of course, yeah... but I... didn't feel like it! It's a better workout kicking it across the ground, y'know."

"Whatever makes you happy," Zuko rolled his eyes again and trudged off. I wondered if he even knew what it felt like to be happy. Probably not. But that might not be his fault. I certainly wouldn't be happy if I lived in the Fire Nation and had a big ol' scar on my left eye.

I looked over at the crate, at the kitten curled up in the corner. _Hmm..._

**-end of chapter-**

Yaaaay, short chapter. But it's better than nothing, I suppose. Especially after all this time. You might all be dead by now. But I DON'T CARE because I FINALLY WROTE ANOTHER CHAPTER, WOOT.


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